


Fire Emblem: Re-Awakening

by MotleyWorldStudios



Series: Fire Emblem: 3D Trilogy [1]
Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Canon, Canon Rewrite, Comedy, Drama, Eventual Relationships, F/F, F/M, Family, Horror, M/M, Multi, My First AO3 Post, Novelization, Original Character(s), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Plot With Porn, Romance, Tragedy, Warnings outside of "Graphic Depictions of Violence" will feature much later into the story
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-19
Updated: 2018-10-25
Packaged: 2019-07-14 07:33:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 14,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16035860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MotleyWorldStudios/pseuds/MotleyWorldStudios
Summary: In the world of Ylisse, there are two sleeping dragons: one who is the protector of mankind, and the other who is its sworn destroyer. Dive into this fantastical realm to follow the story of an unlikely band of heroes coming together from each corner of the world and decide its fate. Will it be salvation or damnation?





	1. Premonition Part 1: The Ties that Bind

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome everyone, this is Motley World Studios on the air with you. You may recognize this story over from FanFiction.net under my old username "Blue Sun Studios", and I am currently in the process of transposing it over here and looking at what I'll keep and add in to it. Before you begin reading this redone story, first thing's first: this is a variation of a novelization/reimagining of Fire Emblem: Awakening's plot proper; overall it will follow a guideline and similarity to the actual game, especially early on, but as Chrom eloquently put it–"anything can change"–so try not to expect everything to go down the same road that the game does. And last but not least, the disclaimer (which you'll be reading right after this) will remain strictly confined to the beginning of the story because personally I'm tired of having to put it in every chapter of whatever I write and I know that it must be bothersome for you all too (I'll also apply these changes to my other stories as well so don't worry about this being exclusive to this entry). Without further ado, it's time for me to introduce you to the disclaimer of this story.
> 
> The following is a nonprofit, fan-based fiction. The Fire Emblem franchise in its wholesome is owned by NintendoCo., Ltd. and all OCs created for this story are property of me, Motley World Studios. Please support the official releases. WARNING: this story in its entirety contains content that some viewers (i.e. you) may find inappropriate, offensive, and/or uncomfortable. If you are under the legal age of adulthood, unsure about reading this fiction, or some other third entity that shouldn't be here, I advise you not to view this. For those of you who are allowed to and are all set to read this, please rate and/or review at your own discretion.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In a bleak emptiness, two identical strangers awaken and soon find themselves guided by a mysterious voice. Upon coming to, they undergo a set of trials known as "The Awakenings" so that they may recover their lost power and return to the living world. These first few trials would ultimately go on to determine their destinies for the rest of their lives…

**_Theme: Dive into the Heart_ **

Darkness… Everything was engulfed in nothingness… Was this a falling…? Hard to say; it felt as though this was being afloat in the water … Was this death…? Another uncertainty; this experience wasn’t earthly but not in a spirited away feeling, perhaps some form of limbo…

“…” What was that sound? It sounded as though…something beckoned from beyond…

“Awaken…” There it went again, this time more clearly heard. The voice reverberated throughout with such power, albeit…with a haunting essence…

“ **Awaken.** ” Again, the voice commanded from beyond the darkness. Comprehensible as it was, was it even human…? Regardless, there was a sudden surge of light as everything came to be as the extreme darkness dissipated…

Stretching eternally onward was a nebulous night sky, but the void was not entirely devoid of all else. Not for much longer, finally fading into view was a soul most mystical; standing at average height, this being wore a black robe lined with purple streaks and adorned with gold, their head was capped off in a snow of hair, and their curious gaze beheld pools of molten gold. Was this the voice that called from the darkness? It would seem so for only so long; the answer soon came swift and certain.

“Ah, good. You have both awakened.” The voice returned and didn’t seem to come from the newcomer judging from even their confused expression. It had the faintest of vague familiarity at a clearer bearing of it, though this was strange since its owner wasn’t coming to mind easily—if not at all. There wasn’t much time to ponder on this as the mysterious voice spoke again.

“I was beginning to wonder when the two of you would finally rouse from your slumber. You are quite the heavy sleepers.” The remark was biting in its playfulness, though that playfulness would not last for long. “Although…as I refer to you as having roused from your stillness, you are not yet ‘fully awakened’ as you are now.” What did that mean? Despite this feeling of consciousness, was it all a mere illusion? “Come, there is much to do, and time is of the essence.” Without warning the “ground” beneath gave way and for a moment gravity finally took reign. Soon the falling came to an abrupt stop as a gentle let down took over, with a softly landing upon ground that was not there before. This ground was quite exquisite in design: a circular stand made of stained-glass bearing an image of the same being from before but as a man and woman in a yin-yang juxtaposition, with the presumed male of the duo brandishing a jagged sword in the shape of a lightning bolt and a tome fashioned similarly with yellow-white colors depicting a spear-like lightning bolt on its cover, and the presumed female held in her fingers a sword with tightly concentrated gales forming the shape of its blade and her other hand held a verdant tome bristling with wind energy. Their visages were calm, presented in the manner of sleeping soundly.

“That is you…” the enigmatic voice from before spoke, taking center stage once again. “You are currently in a state of physical inertness, and this here shall be among the first of your ‘Awakening’ trials.” Seconds after, the stained-glass stand emitted a bright light, and from that light emerged about ten objects of different design. “These artifacts here each represent differing aspects of your power, and as the next few aspects of your trials you will need to make a decision between these artifacts to determine what you shall embrace with and what you shall discard.”

The first of these objects had moved forward; a robe fashioned after an angel’s wings draped under a halo-like collar fluttered to the fore of the group. “This is the **_‘Seraph Robe’_** , a cloak made from the first true seraph knight who shed her wings and halo to grant humanity the esoteric gift of immortality; choose it and you shall be granted a life span and immune system that neither age nor disease can claim, but if you discard it your life is but a flickering ember that is easily snuffed out by the most meager of blights.”

The Seraph Robe departed and, in its place, stood (or rather floated) a teardrop-shaped vial filed with a vivid blood-red fluid inside of it, the substance somehow giving of the vibe of an intense inferno raging inside of it. “This is the **_‘Energy Drop’_** , an essence of the blood shed from the mightiest reaver who had ever lived; ingest it and you shall have the strength of an unstoppable force capable of moving mountains, but if you refuse than you could never hope to even move mere paperweight from your path.”

The Energy Drop backed off and stepping up to the plate was a blue bottle that spewed out seemingly endless glimmering dust, its cyan sparkles giving off a magical aura. “This is the **_“Spirit Dust”_** , a potion of great magical quality crafted by the most esoteric archsage; take its dust upon you and your mind shall expand to where your latent magical abilities are unchallenged, but if that is not what you desire that your intellect shall be dulled to where only basic function is what you will retain with magical prowess, therefore remaining low.”

The Spirit Dust returned from whence it came and was quickly replaced by a green book with arcane writing writ upon its blue cover, giving the impression of it having been published long ago by a great scholar. “This is the **_‘Secret Book’_** , an arcane book published by a sharpshooter who had mastered physical skill; read its contents and you shall be gifted with technique and dexterity that no other could achieve, but if you care not for their teachings then your ‘skill’ is little more than clumsy floundering flung into the wind.”

The Secret Book closed itself and took a bow as the next artifact took center stage where it once stood; a large, shimmering feather of white "flew" forward if that made any sense to make it presence known. "This is the **"Speedwing"** , a feather doffed from the original Pegasus himself; under this relic's blessing your body will move and react at speeds others could never hope to attain, but it shall spite you with an unbearable sluggishness as if you were donning cement boots if you were to reject its worth."

Back into the circle the Speedwing flew towards and not too soon what appeared to be some sort of idol, a woman with flowing hair that somehow spread into a pair of wings and with the hint of a tail peeking out from under her robes. "This is the **"Goddess Icon"** , an idol painstakingly crafted in the image of the Divine Dragon Naga, savior of humanity; carry its essence with you and enjoy having the Luck Balance of the Universe tip in your favor, but beware if you care for it not for the Luck Balance of the Universe will verily tip out of your favor thusly."

Hiding behind the Goddess Icon for as much as it could hide to begin with given its massive size, an ornate shield in the shape of a dragon's head full of scales and with a mighty dragon emblazoned on its front came forward as the idol retreated. "This is the **"Dracoshield"** , a legendary shield crafted long ago by a nigh-invincible marshal from a myriad of Earth Dragon scales; equip it onto you and your strength shall _be_ as unmovable as the mountains. But if it has no value to you, you are literally liable to become a pushover as even a light breeze will topple you."

With the Dracoshield having had its powers explained, it fell back into the long list of artifacts whilst a new one took its place; a square-shaped pendant with a blood-red gemstone in its golden center shone brilliantly, giving off an ethereal vibe to it. "This is the **"Talisman"** , a powerful ward against black magicks created by a saint of old; if you are to wear it then it will act as the best possible protection against even the most fell of magick whether in battle or otherwise, but toss it aside and you will only see to it to be cursed with a lack of defense against the weakest of spells."

What came next was a rather tame looking object compared to everything else before it but not too out of place; a pair of almost-ordinary brown boots walked forward, each one adorned with a feather near their soles. "These are the… **"Boots"**? What were these properly called again…? Feathered Boots, Roc Boots…Pegasus Boots? No, that does not sound right. Flying Soles, Hover Soles, Swiftso—wait, "Swiftsoles"! Yes, that is their proper name: "Swiftsoles"! *Ahem* These are the…" The voice would have continued were it not for the snickering, clearly at its expense over its confusion about something so mundane as the name of a pair of boots. "Oh go on ahead and laugh at me, see where it gets you. Anyways, these are the… **"Swiftsoles"** … They were created…by… Hrm… Er, wear them and you will run very fast for a long time. Or not. Your choice."

Having had more than enough time in the limelight, the boots happily(?) walked back to where it stood before as the last of the artifacts made itself known; a long and thick scroll wrapped up in red floated forward, accompanied by distant sounds of weapons clanging against each other. "This is the **"Arms Scroll"** , a treatise on advanced weapon wielding written by the master of all arms. Divulge its secrets, I say, and you shall gain the knowledge to excel at and against any weapon of either your choosing or your enemies' choosing. If weapon mastery is not what you care for then be warned, for you shall be slower to even grasp their basic functions compared to most others around you." As soon as the voice had gone through every relic their benefits and disadvantages were made very clear, but it didn't seem quite right to merely keep one as an asset and discard another as a flaw. There had to be another relic that had all their benefits combined and this voice was hiding it. Though the presented artifacts hid nothing from sight, the only other thing to be seen was the eternal darkness stretching forever onward.

"Is there something else that you seek?" the voice questioned, already knowing the answer but wanted to tease for the moment. "Is it the power to wield them **all** , without having to degrade yourselves from sacrificing one in favor of another? A sensible thought; who in their right mind would willingly handicap themselves in one area while increasing their capabilities in another area and not strive to break their limits in all places? But what if you only had the choice to take one and abandon another while the rest are unchanged? What then?" Defiance hung tightly in the air and the decision would not be swayed; if there was a chance to exceed in all areas then it was not an opportunity that was to be passed up on. "So…you remain steadfast in your stance. Ha, how greedy of you, to wish to wield every power known to man! A typical notion that many beings dream of, both mortal and divine! …However, unlike most I sense a greater purpose in you than to simply have everything at your fingertips; it is something much deeper and goes beyond what any would ever dare to go, therefore I shall respect that stance. Very well then, if you have no desire to settle for less while there is yet another path for you, then I shall grant you what you seek…" The relics retreated almost as if they were hurt from rejection and began spinning in the air, drawing closer towards each other and then magically converging in a flash of light. When it disappeared, the only thing left behind was a single object that was in the shape of the Energy Drop's vial, but it was a lovely golden color that glowed with brilliance and shimmered with light. An amazing sight to behold as it grew ever closer.

"This is **"Naga's Tear"** , a timeless artifact containing very tears that the Divine Dragon Naga herself shed for humanity. It combines the strengths of all of the other objects, and since you are so intent on wielding the power of all, it shall be yours. But, as with this artifact, there is a catch, a warning to be more accurarte…" Just as it seemed that this was a case of treachery the voice stopped those notions dead and cold. "You will not suffer a weakening in your abilities, I assure you, but I suspect that your life when you reawaken will adapt to your newfound powers if only to make itself harder to live out. Many living lifeforms fear what they do not know and hate what they can not conquer, so there will be many who will attempt to either seize your power out of envy or to kill you out of fear. Some may disguise their true natures to get closer to what you hold and use you for it, and others still will want to control you and make you theirs. Be wary of those who hide in the light and cherish those who can see past your power, those who treasure who you are at your cores… Go on now, take what is yours…" And taken the Naga's Tear was, though an unfamiliar hand was found upon it. The enigmatic figure stared back with slight surprise and curiosity in their eyes, but this gave way to the words of the voice: this was not just for them but for the other as well – that the other could receive the object if they wanted since they were in this together – and thus they accepted, nay, welcomed the other doing so. Suddenly the Naga's Tear shone even brighter and a glow consumed the are before a powerful surge of power became known, making it very difficult to breathe.

"Relax," the voice told them. "The Naga's Tear has simply spread itself within you. You will feel the effects of the empowering very soon. And thus, this concludes the first of five Awakenings… Go forth and prepare yourselves for the next Awakening…Reflet and Robyn." Once standing was no longer an issue the two addressed enigmas were sure that they were very much prepared for the next "Awakening"; in nearly an instant both the platform underneath and thus their confidence were shattered, with silently screams escaping their throats as they fell to parts unknown. And not too soon afterward they stopped—suspended in midair above another stained—glass platform, but it beheld two different figures: they were all blue-haired individuals, one clearly male and the other far more ambiguously detailed, both appearing as if they were royalty of some sort who faced each other and the weapons they held were identical: a blade of white with bright flames about it and a gentle blue glow from the center of its golden hilt. Like the last depiction their man's eyes were closed, suggesting that he too was asleep, but his similarly-looking compatriot wore a butterfly mask over their face, concealing their status. Lastly, the male had a bright and sunny world full of life depicted behind him though the other sword wielder stood before a twilight sky and the ruins of a kingdom overtaken by nature.

"These two figures," the voice began, "are among the forefront of those who will play an important role in shaping your ultimate destiny and fate… They are known as **'Chrom'** and **'Marth'** … The former is a representation of the world's **light** , while the other likewise represents that of the **twilight** …" The figures themselves lit up in correspondence of the spoken names, with the man being first and the other one being next. "You both represent the foil of the former and the other half of the latter: the **darkness** of the world…" What exactly did their future hold in store for them? Was it something that they would find pleasurable, detestable, or something else entirely? "I know not what the future will be; that is something that you must discover on your own…"

Before the duo could think of anything else, the voice suddenly shouted out at them. "Here they come," it said. "Those who will oppose you in your lives are coming to make short work of you. Arm yourselves. Quickly." The enigmatic pair looked around and spotted the same elemental sword and tomes from before and hurried to grab them. Once in their hold they saw numerous people descend from above, all of them dressed in various wear, armed with weapons and looking to kill. "Their origins are unimportant; what is important is that they will not take mercy upon you no matter what you do, so kill them before they kill you." The pair did not hesitate to battle their enemies, bringing their swords against them with swift strikes. Each swing they made was accentuated with a violent blast of magic which either dropped their opponents down in a convulsing heap or blew them away into the abyss. This continued on until the last enemy had been felled with their weapons; the pair looked on in shock at the sheer display of power they held.

"It is but a fraction of what you now hold inside of you," the voice said. "When you undergo the True Awakening, your power will be at its fullest potential once reached through training. Then, you will soon wield the power of a **GOD**." That alone was a bit of a scary prospect, but they figured that they chose it, therefore they had to bear with it. Looking upon their downed opponents they saw that their bodies had become pale in color and then they sank into the platform below them in a pool of darkness. Said pool of darkness was encroaching upon the pair ever so closer until they could no longer run from it at the edge. In a panic the duo tried in vain to free themselves from this shadowy quicksand before it swallowed them whole. "Do not fret," the voice tried to assure them. "This is where your next Awakening – the one that decides your destiny – shall begin…" Despite their words meaning to comfort them they only felt fear as they sank further and further until they were no more…

* * *

Their eyes shot open and they frantically looked around to pinpoint their location; they seemed to be laying down in an open field full of flowers that stretched as far as the eye can see. Turning to their side they found their lookalike present in the same predicament, and thus they were relieved that they at least had each other around, someone else to fall back on. Wondering if they were out of the dream state—having not heard what the mysterious voice last said to them—they began surveying their area finding that they both were all alone, at least until they glanced behind themselves, and that was where they were met with a familiar sight.

"Had a nice nap I presume?" the man asked. It was Chrom from their dreams, wearing the same attire he was depicted with in the glass and smiling brightly at them. "You look like you both need a hand. Here." He offered his own arm to lift them both to their feet and they accepted, the man being surprisingly strong enough to hoist them both up. "That's better," he said. They both had a feeling that they would end up liking this man for his sheer generosity.

"Hey, um, would you two mind if I asked you a personal question?" he asked, catching them by surprise seeing as how they had just met him. Nevertheless they nodded in agreement granting him permission to do so. "Thanks. Now, do you think this would apply to you best? Are you the type to put others before yourselves, to take risks for their sake, and to make sacrifices to ensure their well-being—whether or not they deserve it—if at least only to give them another chance at life to do good?" They thought on that one long and hard; who did and who didn't deserve a second chance? Maybe under the right circumstances they figured that they would do just that, and though they felt it was not their place to ultimately judge another being they still had an obligation to protect others from a clear threat to their lives. And if someone was shown capable of being redeemed then just maybe they'd go out of their way to protect that person even if they didn't really "deserve" their protection. There was no need for them to pay evil onto evil.

"I figured you'd say that," Chrom said. "Heh, that sounds rather reasonable. I myself would find it rather hard to do the same, but maybe I could learn to try that more often. I think I'm beginning to like you two already." This brought a smile to their faces finding that they've already seemed to make a friend. "I just know that the world will become a better place with you two around…" Before they could affirm that Chrom turned to leave; they were going to stop him until a gust kept them in place and shrouded the man in a shower of flower petals. When they dissipated he was gone, gone as soon as he came. Where did he go? They looked around their entire surroundings and far out behind them they spotted…Marth? They were crouching down with flowers cupped in their hands. The pair wasted no time in reaching Marth's spot and noticed that they appeared to be weeping over something. Seeing that Marth did not notice them, they placed a hand on the swordster's shoulder in an attempt to calm them down.

"Wha—?!" Marth gasped and reeled from the foreign touch. "Oh! I-I'm sorry, I didn't see you there…" Upon closer inspection they found that this person looked rather womanly if they were to be a man, and the butterfly mask on their face had snapped in two on the ground. They wore the same clothing from before, and the sword and its scabbard were exactly the same as Chrom's from what they could tell. Perhaps the two were related somehow? They did share a similar blue hue in hair color. But where Chrom's hair and flesh looked vibrant and full of life, Marth's was dull and pale, befitting that of a corpse. Where Chrom's voice was proud and bold Marth's was trembling, and where the man was happy they were despairing. And of special note, Chrom's eyes were normal in appearance; Marth's eyes each beheld a strange sigil. The left bore the same mark that Chrom had on his right arm – no doubt cementing their connection—but it was the right eye that was the most unsettling to look at; a violet, sinister six-eye pattern sat in her pupil, already being bordered by a blood-red ring of an iris, and the eye looked to have gone bloodshot. This was completely unlike her left eye which had a rich blue color for its iris and the mark Chrom had on his shoulder was a lighter, more pleasant shade to look at. Could this be the signs of Marth's origins as a representation of twilight?

"I—I don't mean to trouble you two, but…may I ask you something?" Of course they may; if it did anything to ease the woes then they would let Marth do just that. "Thank you so much. What—what would you do if you had no other favorable choice but to…kill yourself for those you loved if it would keep them safe? To give up the most precious thing to you just to allow them to see another day… Would you do it?" The way they saw it, nothing could be more precious to them than the fact that those they love will live to enjoy a happy life. If there truly was no other way that they could save their close ones from certain doom unless their own demise necessitated, then they would happily jump in the line of fire without regret or hesitation—even if it meant breaking the hearts of those who cared for them. So long as they had another chance to live, it was worth whatever the price may be.

"That…you have no idea how much that means to me…" Marth said, a small smile gracing their lips, and the two before the swordster couldn't help but pull them into a hug to make them feel better. "I suppose…I suppose that that is what love is at its purest form, willing to do anything for those who live in your hearts… That…helps my own heart rest…much…easier…" They were glad that they could put Marth at ease and—wait, were they _gasping_ _for_ _air_? They weren't hugging Marth that hard they knew, yet when they looked Marth appeared as if they were suffocating. The female of the pair was ready to breathe some air into them, but right before their lips could connect Marth's head lolled back and their eyes had took on a glazed look while titled back slightly. No… They couldn't let Marth go out like this. The woman performed CPR while her male counterpart pushed against their chest hoping to jumpstart the heart back up. Their efforts were in vain, as the pale swordster had shown no signs of life. Marth wasn't actually dead the pair thought; they tried to hold on to the belief that Marth was simply unconscious. Desperately they tried to find someone, anyone, who could save this person. They tried looking for Chrom once more and see if he was still here, but they found someone else in the distance.

**_ Theme: ... _ **

She was a tall woman of dark complexion who wore a heaping amount of ornate golden armor fashioned after a dragon's skeleton around her upper body, followed by a flowing black dress attached at the waist with purple and gold highlights which was transparent enough to see through them somewhat, her flesh had the same dull and pale pallor characteristic as Marth's, and she possessed snow white hair like the awakened couple. They took up the unmoving body of the blue-haired swordster and ran straight towards this woman, and when they reached her they hoped that she would recognize the presence of a dying soul who needed help.

"What is it that you seek?" her empty voice came, carrying no emotion unlike Chrom and Marth. They hoped that she had the power to save this unfortunate person from death. When she turned around they had just noticed how what they thought was red spots were in actuality bloodstains, a bouquet of dead and withered roses were held in her black-clawed fingers having almost turned a dark grey and sporting a ton of still sharp thorns, and atop her hair was a black wedding veil that draped over her eyes, partially covering some violet facial markings. All in all, this woman looked like a dead body too just like Marth. As if to emphasize this all of the flowers beneath her bare feet and several flowers nearby them were all dead, creating an eyesore of a sight that sharply contrasted everything else.

"You wish for the power to save her?" she asked, a wisp of dark purple and black smog accompanying every syllable she spoke, and the insides of her mouth were just as deathly colored as the rest of her was, also revealing her bloody teeth and longer than usual canine teeth. They furiously nodded their heads desperate to stave off Marth's death. "You cannot save them from their fate, for it has already come." Were they too late? There was no way that they would let this come to pass. She didn't seem to be finished speaking however, kneeling down to the deceased Marth. "There is a way to spare them this fate. To bring them back from the jaws of death." The duo were ready to do whatever it was this woman had told them to do.

"Do you believe in **'Invisible Ties'**? It is the force that is all encompassing and resonates through time and space to bind every creature in this universe together: you, me, and your unfortunate companion are all bound by this single thread… Do you believe in this power… Can you feel it…?" As odd as that sounded they found that they agreed with this woman. The mysterious voice from earlier had already said as much that their paths were destined to intertwine with Chrom, Marth, and many more others. Considering the odd nature of recent events happening to them they very much believed that such ties existed and held them all together.

"I see…" the woman said. "With this belief you may yet be able to save this Marth, and protect all those around you from those who would seek to destroy your bonds…" This had them overjoyed that they had a chance to save Marth from death and they looked up to the woman to thank her for giving them one last hope to believe in. "However, now is not the time for that."…What? It's not time to rescue their fallen companion? What was that supposed to mean? "You will be able to save them in due time…but that time is not now. Before you depart here, look into my eyes as I impart one final message onto you…" This woman took a single hand and brushed the veil out of her eyes, and the pair were off put of what they beheld. The woman had large under shadows that encompassed her sunken eyes, and the facial marking was the same as the one in Marth's right eye: six eyes connected to each other with the middle ones surrounding her real ones, and that wasn't even the most unnerving aspect of her face. Her eyes had the whites as everyone else did, but they had gone bloodshot just like Marth's and the irises were inky pools with blood-red rings in each center that mimicked real eyes to some degree.

"You will have many trials ahead of you both, and if you wish to overcome them you must do so as one, lest you fall as two. And you alone will not have the strength to carry on through every single obstacle that your journey will place before you. With your destiny determined, look to your allies to help guide you down the path you wish to tread, and tread with utmost caution. Remember these words well…" She took the lifeless body of Marth and made to leave as Chrom had before her, but the pair still had questions to ask her. As if sensing this she turned around one last time; whatever white her eyes had were completely completely overtaken by a dark abyss and the red rings enlarged as tears of blood lightly trickled down her emotionless face. "I am Akasha, Queen of the Damned, and we will meet again…" They wanted her to tell them how to bring the dead swordster in her arms back to life but they could feel themselves slowly slipping out of consciousness. They had to save her…! They…just had to…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that concludes the first part of the Premonition. It's drastically different from the original and is obviously inspired by Kingdom Heart's Dive into the Heart sections; I figured that that would set the mood for this story a tad better than the one from Awakening proper, but the rest of the story will heavily draw from Awakening's plot itself with a mixture of other franchises to create a different feel (you'll see which franchises I mean with future chapters). The "Themes: " are meant to give the reader (ie you) what each section's mood is almost like a video game; if there is no "Theme: " after a horizontal line than that means there is no music playing setting the mood for that part (of course you can disregard the music if you want). This chapter alone marks a few appearances of characters who will have a great deal of importance later on in the story (with temporary OOC moments on Marth's part I now realize), and there is definitely some foreshadowing going on. Not that I'll let you know if you DO get them right, but have fun trying to figure out what I'm going to do next. I WILL tell you if you get any reference found in this chapter right, but ultimately I hope that you liked this introductory entry. This is Motley World Studios, signing off of the air!


	2. Premonition Part 2: The Invisible Ties

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The two Awakened Ones continue on from the third of their Awakening trials so that they may return to the waking world, but to their misfortune they are woefully under-prepared for the final two, which will test both mind and body.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the second part of the Premonition. Nothing too out of the ordinary here except for the introduction of two OCs who will play a sparse and enigmatic yet recurring role throughout this story. After the Awakening trials, things will finally get on to the rails of the first arc of the story – "The Mad King". I should also warn you all—you will see a bit of OOC here in regards to at least one character here.

_** Theme: Dive into the Heart ~ Destati  
** _

When they came to, their eyes were met with a familiar nebulous void, and after rubbing the exhaustion out of them they looked around and saw that they were atop another stained-glass platform. This one had a different scenario: it was the woman Akasha as they had last seen her, but her eyes were closed while she was apparently ensnared within shadowy arms. Opposite of her was a similarly dressed man, depicted as having his eyes wide open, a dark aura surrounding him, and with a wicked smile adorning his face. The shadowy arms that bound Akasha were traced back to his aura and in his hand was an eerie grimoire that brandished that same six-eyed sigil upon its cover. Said symbol appeared behind them and what's more was that there were blackened-out figures whose only distinguishable feature were menacing red eyes that shone bright against their dark forms. Was everything that the pair had just experienced another dream of sorts?

"You have made it through the third Awakening…" the familiar voice from before had said. So the pair _was_ still asleep after all, which was rather disappointing to say the least. _"_ Now that we now have an idea of what your destiny is, the next Awakening will push your power to its limits to see how you fare against these enemies… Akasha and Validar themselves are as intertwined with each other as they are with you, and the figures behind them are also connected. On a more pressing note, they are what you will be facing as your next enemies… Go towards the edge of this station and prepare yourselves…" With a renewed mood to leave this dream state more than ever, the pair complied, standing to their feet and moving towards the edge where they saw another "Awakening Station" down below. But…were they seriously going to have to jump for this one? It didn't seem safe, and it didn't help that the station looked to be pretty far down from where they stood. "No harm will befall either of you, of that I can promise," the voice told them. "Now jump, onward to your next Awakening. If you don't you will not leave from your dream state." They didn't even have time to prep themselves for the long fall when something shoved them off of the edge. Screaming out in terror – albeit without sound – they braced for an impact when the station came ever so closer, and right before they touched down they were held above it in the air. It was only for a second though, as they were soon released and landed face-first onto the platform. They quickly looked about to find that damnable voice and give them the what-for for this scare.

"Ease yourselves," it said with a slight hint of humor in it. "I _did_ promise that no _serious_ harm would come to you did I not?" The pair pitifully tried to glare in every which direction for the trick believing that they'd at least look in its general direction. Now that they had a chance to look at the station, it was showing them two great dragons in another yin-yang dichotomy like the first image. They were directly facing each other much like the previous two portraits, and behind each was what looked like two different worlds. The white colored dragon did not look too out of the ordinary but it definitely carried a divine aura about it, and behind that dragon was a peaceful world with happy people beneath it. Opposing it was a black dragon which was drastically different: it had six eyes from what they guessed and great horns were jutting from its head while it sported six wings, and behind this dragon awaited a world of ruin with the same shadowed out figures with red eyes found everywhere. These must have been two dragon figures who battled each other for the fate of the world, but who won?

"Steel yourselves," the voice called. " **They** are here…" _They_? With little warning, pools of darkness swamped the station and deathly hands crawled their way out of them. When the opponents were in clear view the pair recognized them: they were some of the same enemies they had fought earlier, but they were different now. They didn't look as lively as before—both figuratively and very literally—still sporting the same weapons, the same wear, and the same wounds from earlier. Their eyes however looked especially different; they were pitch-black with red rings for irises, exactly like Akasha's eyes when they blacked out. " **They** are the **"Risen"** ," the voice explained, "reanimated corpses driven by an instinct to maim and terrorize, and with nary a sense of restraint they are more deadly now than they were alive. They will show you no hesitation and grant you no mercy, and neither should you. Destroy them all." The duo took out their magic swords and lunged at some of the fallen, only for their strikes to be parried with an opposing attack. The pair found themselves being pushed back by the shambling party with relentless blows. They tried to think of a way to outmatch these creatures in strength but every time a plan came together the risen tore it apart with their savage swings, throwing off the duo at every turn.

"You will not beat **these** creatures with raw strength so easily," the voice told them. "Rather than match them blow for blow in their area of expertise, you ought to release a steady stream of magick upon them to keep a healthy distance between you. Quickly—before they close the space between you, unleash your magickal might!" Obeying the command they switched from their stance of melee combat to pelt them continuously with magic projectiles, courtesy of their lightning and wind tomes. The risen soon found it hard to withstand the constant onslaught of magic thrown their way despite their best efforts to plow through the projectiles, ending up being pushed back up against the edge of the station. As much as the beasts tried to hold out, their faltering strength finally gave way to the overwhelming force of the tomes' power and the undead horde found itself flung over the edge of the Awakening Station, howling out their last breaths as they descended into the unknown. The battle was tougher to manage for the pair than the ones before it, and they honestly hoped that this was the last of them. To their chagrin, however, they had no such luck now.

"That was an impressive first victory against the Risen," the voice congratulated, "but they have not pulled back just yet. Sometimes, they will be spearheaded by a **Chieftain** of their kind or even someone else who commands Risen with great tactics, making these ghouls more dangerous than those you have faced just moments ago." Right on cue more pools of darkness spawned forth and more of the undead horde came crawling their way up to ground level. These ones included both the heavy armor and robe types of enemies who had turned following their last battle, and making a grand appearance was Validar, entering the battlefield in an ominous swirl of darkness and with Akasha in tow.

"You cannot deny fate its true course!" he bellowed. "Accept your eternal slumber as was prophesied long ago!"

"Some of your foes may come back for another bout after their first encounter with you," the voice explained. "Whether they legitimately survived your prior meeting or whether they had turned and rose from their grave, they will hound you once more and you must emerge victorious once again. As these soldiers utilize actual strategy, you must counter their ploys to stand a chance. In situations like these, if you are not confident enough taking on the group of enemies, then defeating the commanders of the Risen will make the rest lose focus and cohesion as they scatter about in confusion. Either way, give these corpses a reason to stay down this time." They nodded, taking up their tomes once more. They watched as the heavy armor Risen banded together to form a defensive wall between their enemies and their sorcerous allies, jutting their polearms outwards from behind the protection of their large shields. Validar stayed behind them all with Akasha at his side, and as she began channeling her fell magick to empower the mages before her, Validar was content relying on his own foul sorcery for combat.

"It is all written that you perish at my hand!" the sorcerer cackled. "Now DIE!" From his hands bolted the condensed darkness heading straight for the team of two. Following the dark blast came an arcing torrent of fireballs from the mages, aimed so that they would both not hinder the armored march of their allies and to create ample space between the blasts and the soldiers, giving the pair no chance to close the distance themselves and forcing them back until they had to take the blasts. Validar had himself and Akasha distanced as far as possible from the Risen, granting him some vantage against the pair. With the heavy armor Risen having closed enough distance, the constant barrage of fire had ceased, but only so that the armored units could fight without being attacked by their own. Now firmly pinned between a rock and a hard place, the magic swordsmen pair faced what appeared to be either death by Risen or death by falling.

"Get it together" the voice said. "They are not invincible; everything has a significant weakness of some sort—barring yourselves of course—and all you need do is exploit them. Once again, magick is key here; though your tomes are slow to charge, you _do_ have other magickal options available." The only other thing the voice could have been talking about were the magically enchanted swords at the pair's sides, so they quickly brought out their swords and began parrying the blows of the armored ghoul's polearms, waiting for the opportunity to strike back. "Yes, that is it; use the power of your levin and blusteren swords to cut through their armor!" As they blocked each strike, they were also channeling their magical energies into the swords, and with every blow they could feel the enemy recoil more and more. The enemies' shields by then had taken so much punishment and suffering that it was only a matter of time until they surrendered to the magical might of the levin and blusteren swords. "Now: strike through their breasts with all your fury!" Now having a clear shot at their enemies' weak spots, the duo took their swords and swung them in wide horizontal arcs, the magical energy stored within them flying loose and slicing through the bodies of the armored zombies. The ghouls quickly began evaporating into violet smog as they expired, leaving not a single trace of them . The elemental crescents traveled on towards the mages behind the fallen bastions but failed to reach them, and even if they did they likely wouldn't have done much damage thanks to their high magical resistance. It seemed as if the undead spellslingers had been counting on this, as shortly after their allies had been slain they let loose with a maelstrom of magical missiles.

"Quick, defend yourselves!" With tomes decidedly out of the question, the pair quickly waved their swords in front of them as soon as the enemies' attacks could reach them, utilizing leftover magic to further cancel out the attacks. Not wanting to give the fell sorcerers another chance to unload another storm upon them, the pair swiftly charged at the lined-up spellcasters and swung out with their swords, though the mages were quick on their toes and dodged the swipes, simultaneously giving their commander an opening to attack.

"You fools!" Validar hissed, and with enough energy he had been building up to he tossed it dead at the duo, its explosion knocking them away to the edge once more. "Gyahahahaha! Do you now realize how meager your strength is compared to mine, how futile your attempts to defy fate are? You should have surrendered from the start to make your demise easier on you, yet you insisted on uselessly dragging out your doom. Perchance you possess some morbid fascination with your own pain? Whatever the case, it is over; oh, but do not fret for your deaths—after all, there is no point being afraid of the inevitable…" Oh how badly the pair wanted to shut the man's trap with a good trouncing; firmly believing that fate isn't something so easily written off and having no sense of agency or freedom in the matter, they struggled to their feet with their elemental swords clutched tightly in their hands, also gripping their tomes as to charge both weapons with their inner strengths. "Really now, you still refuse to accept your fates… So be it then; I will have to teach you your place!" Holding his hand up high and drawing further power from both Akasha's chanting and the mages surrounding him—even draining the remaining life force that remained in the mages into his magic to kill and disintegrate them where they stood, Validar prepared to wipe both of the swordsmen out in one fell swoop. "Take solace; with your deaths, you will be able to serve a great purpose, that of the highest of purposes!"

"Are to going to let this man decide your destiny for you?" the voice asked the pair. "Will you let him claim your fates for his own, to use you as puppets in his machinations?" The response the voice got was what they had expected; the duo strengthened their offensive postures, poised to take the blow if nothing else but intending to take Validar down with them if they could not prevail. "Then _stay standing!_ Do not simply sit there and take it like some intimidated child; summon as much of your strength as you possibly can, and _**blow that bastard down into the deepest pits of hell!!**_ " If there were ever any invigorating words the voice had ever said to them, this was it. Completely motivated, the two took to drawing out extreme amounts of magic energy from their pained bodies and channeling them into both hands, causing their weapons to levitate from the sheer force of sorcery exhibited. The sight made Validar cackle with no small amount of sadistic pleasure.

 _"Yes, that is the way; show me your true power — fight me with body and soul, so that I may render them null and void as I tear your body and soul into darkness and despair!"_ A sizeable, glowering ball of death perched itself upon Validar's palm for only a moment longer, and reeling his arm back Validar had finally made to obliterate his foes before him. _"Fare thee well, fools!!"_ The dark sorcerer let the dark sphere loose at the pair, and with only a little bit of time left they could only stretch their arms out to catch the attack in its tracks. Almost sending over into eternal slumber, they forced themselves to keep the blast at bay as they struggled to gather enough energy to repel it. "Wrestle against it all you want, it matters not! Even if you somehow resist its power, I can easily create another one that will not fail! Soon you will engulfed by the shadow of death, and fate shall resume its proper course!" The jeers and taunting did not deter the young fighters, though they were sure that the dark blast was burning at their hands the more they resisted it. In hindsight, it may have been preferable to simply dodge the move but they were scared that they wouldn't have been able to move out of the way in time. That and some arbitrary desire to overpower their opponent thus forced them to block it when they couldn't muster enough energy to break through it.

"Fight it!" the voice bit out at them. "Overwhelm its dark power, and return it to sender!" The duo tried their best to do that, but much like their thoughts had confirmed, the dark blast seemed to only burn them more as they continued pushing against it. Having sensed this, the voice had only one other solution left for them if they couldn't deflect or break it. "If you are having so much difficulty resisting the darkness, then perhaps you need not resist the darkness at all…" The suggestion sounded crazy, especially since the voice had prior encouraged them to not just take it as they were. Maybe it was wording its true intentions strange? "What I am offering you is this: you are of the darkness as I have said before—you resisting what is ostensibly a part of you is only going to get you killed, and if you die having resisted the darkness to your bitter end then you will never wake up from the void of slumber. Show me that you are the masters of darkness…" With a clearer understanding of what needed to be done—but still skeptical of the results of the incoming attempt—instead of pushing against the magic bolt the pair decided to take magic into themselves.

"Hm? What's this?" Validar stared at the pair in slight confusion—mostly out of annoyance at their prolonged endurance against his might—but it soon turned into bewildered shock when he saw what appeared to be the death ball he cast at the pair slowly but steadily shrinking in size. In a matter of seconds, what was once a proud globe of dark matter had fizzled out of existence, its remnant energy still lingering upon the hands of the pair that absorbed its essence. "How…? That should have killed you!"

"You see? When you master complete control over the darkness, there are none who could hope to use it against you." Even so, there was something horribly malicious about the dark energy they had absorbed; "evil" would be putting it lightly, and it was saturated in a number of so many other negative emotions that made them want to retch. Regardless, the power coursing through them felt…eerily familiar somehow—evil attunement notwithstanding, and the more it swirled about inside of them the more it felt right in a sense. However, the evil within was starting to cloud parts of their judgment, and not wanting to fall victim to its snare the pair hurriedly channeled it to their hands to pay Validar back with interest.

"There you have it; now, show this sorcerer who is the true master of your destiny!" Not needing to be told twice, the mage fighters took aim with their concentrated blasts of darkness and let fly with their magic missiles, and even as Validar moved to defend himself he could scarce belieeve with his own eyes his that his attempt to subjugate their fates under him were thwarted.

"It can't be… **_IT CAN'T BE!_**!"Despite his best effort to magically catch his own energy, he was betrayed by its power piercing right through his heart—and as he staggered back struggling to maintain his footing, he soon found himself floundering over the edge of the Awakening Station, screaming and cursing the duo as he fell to his death. Akasha – who had merely been chanting to enhance Validar's magic – had suddenly stopped all form of motion besides standing as the blood-red rings in her eyes faded into nothing, and even then it was a slow descent to the ground when she fell to her knees and finally face-down on the ground. After taking time to readjust themselves from the energy they expelled, they took notice of Akasha's unconscious form and tried to hurry over to her, but that was when her body began evaporating into the same kind of smog that the Risen turned into.

"It is as they say: ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Akasha's time spent in this world had come to an end, and a wretched wraith had risen in her place. Do not spend your time mourning over her second death; in slaying Validar, you have released her from her un-living prison, and she is very grateful you had done so." Now it made sense; the image they had seen before of Akasha with her eyes closed and ensnared by an awake Validar's dark aura—he had chained her corpse to this plane of existence through his foul sorcery and only through his death could she be released from the indignity of it all. _"_ Once again, you have secured an impressive victory," the voice complimented. "However, the trials are not yet over. Two more battles await before you can move on the Final Awakening. And I must warn you: these next two will not be so easy…" What could their next opponents possibly be? A sharp inhale of breath from behind them told them exactly who their next opponent was. Turning to look they saw the miraculously moving form of Marth. With their previous experience with the swordster coming back to them they were quick to try to welcome hir back but stopped short when they saw hir rise to hir feet for the first time. Shi inspected hirself and was horrified to see what shi had seen. Shi was a walking cadaver, no longer carrying the qualities of true life, instead having been reanimated as a sick mockery of living creatures. Shi looked ahead of hirself and found the two white-haired people from before—at first she was shocked to see them in this strange place, but that momentary surprise was slowly giving way to anger.

" _You_ …" shi venomously spat out. "How _could_ you…?" They didn't understand what shi meant; what exactly had they done to hir other than… Then it came back to them. Shi was dying, and they failed to save hir. "I can't believe that you really just left me to die like that!" Tears were welling up in her eyes but these were white hot tears of sheer rage. "I thought I meant more to you than to deserve that!" They wanted to tell hir just how badly they wanted to prevent this from happening but the voice stopped them before they could do more.

"The actions you make can either lead to positive or negative consequences such as this," they explained. "Sometimes, your failure to protect your allies may lead to them rising from their graves to pursue you and take measures to make you pay for your actions. They are beyond reason by now—their heart consumed with the corruption of their risen form,. End their miserable un-life as soon as possible."

"I can't ever rejoin the others… I'm doomed to wander the pits of Hell for all eternity…" shi nearly sobbed but didn't allow hirself to cry, not until _they_ paid dearly. "And if I am truly cursed to suffer infernal torment forever, then I will be sure to drag you both with me!" With that shi drew hir sword from its resting place and charged at the pair in a fury. _"You will not stop me!"_ With speed they didn't think capable for hir, shi was the first to draw blood—slashing at the female just barely above her intestines. She faltered for a moment but took her own blade out to parry the following blows from the enraged swordster. A forceful slice aimed at her head was fortunately dodged in time for her to swiftly counterattack with a tempestuous swing right above Marth’s abdomen. Marth cried out from the pain and staggered backwards a few feet while the male snownette rushed to assist his injured ally. When Marth regained a semblance of hir footing shi glared at the pair with hir eyes shifting into the familiar black and red pattern that the rest of the undead held.

 _"I will kill you!"_ shi roared, hir rage overtaking hir as a dark aura exploded around hir and causing hir to charge again in a second attempt at revenge. This time shi wasn't as fast due to hir injury and hir enemies could more easily predict hir next attack, though even one minor slip up could be fatal. A horizontal bisect was narrowly avoided, yet Marth merely kicked the male of the duo away and refocused hir efforts on the female. With hir blade now firmly pressed against the female's blusteren sword, shi continued to force hir sword down harder, overpowering hir opponent due to her injuries. The male mage fighter was about to strike Marth while hir guard was down, but a rough arm took hold of his own and held him in place. Surprised by another's presence, he quickly turned around and saw what looked like Chrom of all people holding him back, though his appearance was quite different from how he last remembered it: his warm blue eyes were now hidden beneath a dark veil and emanated a ghastly blue light, his face was obscured by a mask, his tunic had a tad more armor, and his left arm had been completely overtaken by a large blade in the likeness of his other one. From the looks of it he was about to literally disarm the other man, and he hastily struck him to force his hold from her before retreating.

"Chrom—a once noble man—has fallen to the evil of this world. He has been reduced to a mere puppet whose strings dance only to the whims of his master." The swordsman sauntered over to his opponent, silent as death itself and unwavering in his will to kill as the man brought his levin sword out to defend himself. "With his soul stolen from his body, the only salvation afforded to him from this disgrace is death, same as Marth. Do not allow yourself to falter because of the brief connection you had shared before. Work quickly to defeat Marth and Chrom if you wish to free them from their prisons before you become next." Staying his ground, the male mage fighter prepared himself as Chrom barreled toward him like a mad beast, aiming at his head with swift slices. He only ever seemed to miss his opponent by a hair or two, and the male mage fighter knew that he had to try counterattacking if he were to have any sort of victory; thinking fast, he shot a hand of his out after Chrom missed another attempt on his life, squarely blasting him in his gut with a lightning bolt and pushing him off of him to grant himself an opportunity to charge up for a powerful technique. Though Chrom’s body was limp for a spell, he quickly regained his composure and began unleashing furious slashes at his enemy, with each blow he made staggering his opponent more than the last.

Marth, in spite of hir injuries, was ultimately having no more difficult a time fighting against the female of the awakening pair. Hir motions carried an air of grace despite hir rage, and while shi lacked Chrom’s raw strength shi was still pushing the woman blocking hir up against a proverbial wall. Despite her predicament, she couldn’t easily bring herself to severely harm Marth, though the voice of her guide brought her back to the gravity of the situation.

“Listen: there are times where you should hold back your strength, but this is not one of those times. Chrom and Marth are too far gone to save through mere sympathies. You must prevail over them now or you will share their fates, so _stop_ _holding_ _back_.”

Spurred on by the guide, the woman forced the other swordster off and began her own assault. Among the myriad slashes between the two, the female mage fighter found her attacks hitting less often than her opponent’s, though whenever she could land a hit there was a substantial pause in the swordster before shi could bring hir blade up again. Formidable as shi was, the magess fighter could tell that shi was fighting a losing battle; perhaps it was due to the presence of elemental magic present in the blusteren edge against what could be assumed to be a mostly physically-oriented frame. Marth ignored this and belted out another howl as the dark aura overtook hir again. Instead of focusing on aiming at the mage fighter, Marth merely slashed out in wild swings, hoping to catch hir opponent with one of hir attacks.

It almost seemed to be working too—keyword being "almost". A shrill gasp escaped hir lips as shi felt most of hir strength leaving as a sharp pain surged through hir. Shi looked further down beneath where shi last attacked and saw hir enemy with her sword jammed firmly into hir chest cavity, piercing hir heart apart through to hir back. Feeling faint, shi slipped backwards off of the blade and nearly lost her footing. Hir lung had also been sliced open which made it hard to breath, and a rib or two of hirs had been smashed. Blood poured out of hir like a stream and hir legs constantly quaked; despite this, shi clutched to both hir life and weapon—itself showing cracks throughout while a dark smoke emanated from the fractures. With nary a warning, shi tried to charge her enemy once more, only hitting air as shi kept stumbling forward from the pain and dizziness, making it very clear she had lost. The blade shi wielded had been forgotten and it finally shattered like glass on impact with the floor as Marth kept stumbling trying to keep hirself standing while covering the gaping tear in hir chest. Shi took one last look at hir killer, seeing the look in her eyes that told hir that she didn't mean for hir to die. Shi looked pitiful to her, clutching on to dear life with tears cascading down the sides of hir face. Had shi brought this upon herself…?

"I'm…I'm so sorry…" shi managed to rasp out despite hir wound. “I…never meant for this to happen…” Shi fell to hir knees in a pool of hir own blood, and hir slayer ran up to hir to hold hir in her arms. “You—ack… You were r-right: you did your best to try and save me, and I…took my anger and rage out against you… You d-deserved a better…bet-ter… da……te—”. Finally, consciousness left hir for good, hir body slumping against the woman’s frame. This moment seemed to even shock the supposedly lifeless Chrom, his widened eyes lingering over the fallen form of the other swordster. It was as if the will to fight had been sucked out of him seeing the death of Marth.

“Now!” the guide bellowed. “Strike him before he regains his bearings!” Unlike his female counterpart, the mage fighter quickly heeded the words of his guide and plunged his charged levin edge deep into Chrom’s breast, taking the man by surprise. Though he did not flinch from the attack, it was evident that he had taken a heavy blow. Only when the levin edge had been removed from him did Chrom stagger back as he struggled to keep himself standing – all with a lightning bolt stuck in him – and the male mage fighter could only look to his blade and back to the reeling Chrom in shock. “This is not your…your fault…” the man choked out in an almost human growl. “Promise me…that you’ll escape from this place. Please; go…” His last words spoken, Chrom collapsed onto the ground. The two mage fighters tried their best not to choke on their grief over losing both Chrom and Marth, but then their bodies melted away into a thick plume of purple smoke until there was nothing left of them. The tears shed for them at this point were very much inevitable.

" _Do not mourn over this…"_ the voice consoled them. _"That was only an apparition of the real Chrom and Marth. They did not truly die here; this was merely a representation of the potential consequences of your actions that you may soon commit."_ This did help alleviate their pain up somewhat but it still felt all too real for them to get over so quickly. _"Worry not; the next battle will not be so emotionally distressing, I can promise you that. And then you can finally move on to the Final Awakening…"_ They silently stood to their feet gearing themselves up for this last battle.

 _"_ _Finally, in your journey you will face many enemies,"_ the voice explained. At that moment, there was a brief brightening of the atmosphere before small specks of light and shadow appeared from thin air all around the two. _"However, some of the most difficult enemies you will encounter may actually be your allies in disguise…"_ Soon the motes of light and blots of shadow each began converging together into two respective shapes. At first, they had no clear definition, but as more of them combined they each began to form what looked like humanoid figures. They were tall, dwarfing the tacticians several heads over, especially once their bodies had fully materialized.

Now two beings towered over the tacticians, both clocking in at 7’7” at least: one of them was what could be assumed to be a man dressed down in surprisingly form-fitting and lean silver armor, from their shoulders and waist respectively draped a regal cape and full-length gown of deep blue with gold trimmings, a sword was sheathed at one hip and their bow-quiver pair rested at the other as they held both an ornate poleaxe and cross-bearing pavise in their hands, and from their helmet’s small eyeholes they took cold stock of the opponents before them with glimmering eyes of sapphire-blue—the other was very clearly a dancer woman of sorts who wore very little actual armor to show off her bronze and voluptuous flesh as locks of blonde-ombre hair cascaded down to her lower back, though her conventional beauty was sharply contrasted by both her chiseled sinew and the savage barbarian manner she fashioned her dancer’s robes in, including pieces of a dire beasts’ hide held intricately together with ropes and armored with their many bones, various feathers and furs dressed the attire in the way a tribal chieftain would, and myriad markings that matched her blood-ruby eyes ran throughout her whole body – and that was all before taking into account the vicious sickles holstered at her thighs and the massive twin tomahawks clasped to her back.

" _These two individuals fight in tandem with each other,"_ the voice said. _"They are either attacking at the same time or at different intervals than each other to throw their opponents off. Together they shall stand but divided they shall fall, therefore you must separate them and take advantage of their own weaknesses. Beware: they will aggressively defend each other throughout the entire battle, though if you manage to defeat one of them the other will retreat. "_

“Well lookie here,” the woman spoke first. “Couple’a scrawny-looking mage nerds gonna beat us in a battle? Please, we gobble up little boys and girls like you for treats, quite literally too.”

“Do not underestimate them Isadoriah,” the silver knight admonished in a clearly masculine tone of voice. “We do not fully know what they are capable of, so do not let your guard down.”

“Oh pshaw Joshua, you’re always going on about how we should take these punks more seriously, but seriously—look at ‘em! Betcha they can’t even find their way from a sword to its sheath eh?”

“If that is your idea of a sexual joke at their expense it is rather crass. Regardless, they appear to be seasoned warriors from the looks of their stances.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatevs. Anyways, let’s waste these losers so we can go home already—I’m _so_ food and sex starved, so that means you’ve got a lot on your plate once we’re done here mister.~” The tactician pair cringed at the words as a near silent sigh escaped Joshua’s concealed face, watching as the soldier and warrior pair marched toward them.

“As you say then Isadoriah.” Isadoriah quickly griped her sickles in a reverse style with a predatory smile as Joshua placed his great shield before him with his poleaxe extended. The four combatants eyed each other for any possible weaknesses in each other’s stance, but there were none to be found. With little warning, Isadoriah charged at the pair with a crazed flash across her face, swiping at the pair as she twirled. Though she missed by a quite a good margin despite her speed, she quickly backed off from the pair as Joshua bolted in shield-first. His shield bash having failed, the knight quickly whipped out with his poleaxe and only missed his target by a hair’s margin. Owing to his cautious nature he slowly retreated to gather his strength again when Isadoriah jumped in front of him once more. The tactician magicians tried to parry her wild blows and found themselves nearly getting knocked down by her overwhelming strength. Combined with her swiftness they could tell that a hit from her would be devastating, but taking a good look at her swings told them that she was decidedly more brawn than brains; she wanted not for strength nor speed but her skill did leave much to be desired, and her lack of adequate armor spelled a low durability as well.

“Gah! Stay still you lil’ buggers,” Isadoriah complained, “and lemme carve some lovely red ribbons into ya!” The woman could apparently sense her partner closing in for another go at the pair. Happily removing herself from his path as he came charging forth with his shield leading the way once again, and instead of merely staying in their spot the tactician duo chose to split up in opposite directions as if to sandwich their foes. Joshua was having none of this however, and he took a wide yet controlled outward swing at mid-level to catch the pair before they escaped. This time he landed a blow on them, but to their surprise it wasn’t as painful as they thought it would be, rather weak compared to the harsh blows they had suffered earlier and ultimately only staggered them for a small moment. This did mean that not having put so much power into his swing allowed Joshua to quickly regain his composure and back off. He didn’t get far despite his armor not being overtly bulky, and taking this chance once they had him trapped between them the tacticians quickly unloaded a deluge of magic onto him — having charged and stored their power over the course of Isadoriah’s relentless assault. Seeing this and thinking quickly, the knight crouched down to where his shield had covered his body completely, thus rendering him entirely unaffected by the male tactician’s more powerful spells. Slamming his poleaxe into the floor and quickly pulling out his sword, he twirled it in his free hand as fast as he could to fan off the female tactician’s slightly weaker spells to partial success. Either way he was relatively unscathed thanks to the quality of his armor, though having been just lightly licked by one of the flames hitting his unshielded side gave him a glimpse of just how powerful his opponents were.

“Ooh, not bad broski!” Isadoriah congratulated. “My turn!” Putting her sickles together at their pommels Isadoriah spun them both in one hand at what had to be bullshit levels of speed and effectively turned her main weapons into a shield of sorts. Cackling manically, she made a mad dash at the male of the tactician pair and slashed at him, finally managing to land a clean hit on someone for once. In just one hit she had nearly knocked the man down completely, gracing him with a large gash across his chest, though with his weapons having flown out of his hands from the attack he may as well have been down and out. Just before Isadoriah was about to finish him off a strong bolt of magic struck her from behind, knocking her down right on top of her opponent. The female tactician was not about to attack Isadoriah again so soon, not with said woman laying atop her partner, but with Joshua standing in between her and the other tactician she knew she had to act fast before Isadoriah could regain her bearings. Charging up an intense blaze of magic but not letting it go just yet she ran toward the knight. Unfortunately for her, he wasn’t so easy to fool — Both parts of him suspected that she was headed either toward him to distract him with a diversion or toward Isadoriah to help her comrade, so he quickly replaced his sword with his bow and quickly nocked an arrow at it.

“Quick, go over him!” the woman’s guide spoke. “Propel yourself into the air before he lets that arrow loose and strike from above him, then quickly make your way towards your partner!” Despite this ploy it seemed as though the voice could somehow be heard by the knight as he slightly tilted his bow upwards—expecting his opponent to jump as instructed but still prepared should they change course. With no other clear option available to her, in the spur of the moment she instead propelled herself feet-first towards him with an explosive blast of fire magic rather than trying to go around him, going against what he had expected of her. Having had no time to properly adjust himself, he ended up taking the full brunt of her rocket kicks and found himself on his back. Though he was a sturdy one with plenty of stamina to spare, having been knocked to the ground from the sheer force had taken some wind out of his sails. Dazed somewhat, the woman tactician struggled to quickly regain herself and barreled straight toward Isadoriah, leaving a surprised Joshua on the ground.

Meanwhile with said woman, she was quick to regain her bearings and was now face to face with her opponent. “Oh wow,” she said. “You’re actually pretty cute up close now that I’ve gotten a good look at ya’. Y’know, if we weren’t duking it out I’d have totally boned this hot bod of yours.~” Normally the man beneath her would’ve been blushing mad like a beet but the gravity of his situation made sure most of the blood stayed firmly away from his cheeks—granted it was all pouring out of him like a stream whilst vainly trying to clot itself so that too may have dashed whatever flustering the man would have felt. “Such a shame… Oh well, time to di— _GACK!?_ ” A pair of arms tightly clenched themselves around Isadoriah’s throat and she was lifted to her knees off the man she had pinned down. This gave the male tactician the time to grab his weapons and prepare for battle again, though his wound meant he had to be extra cautios. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted Joshua the Knight rising to his feet, and with Isadoriah occupied he wanted to give her knight companion no semblance of rest either; he took to charging his thunder magic in both hands as quick as he could before the knight could completely recover, and with enough energy to do some substantial damage to the other man he let his lightning bolt loose. The magic projectile hit the man dead in the back of his head, forcing him into a clumsy stagger; seeing this as his opportunity he continued pelting the downed knight with lightning blasts to keep him down while he got close enough to finish him. Before he got close however, he heard sickening sound of flesh being shredded and bones being shatter so turned to look — finding his partner with one of Isadoriah’s tomahawks buried in her chest. Looking at said barbarian, any traces of mirth and whimsy were gone, replaced by an intense fury.

“Thought I’d have a little fun with you but you just had to go and spoil my mood by touching things you shouldn’t be, so you can go rack right the fuck off and suck rocks.” Ripping the tomahawk out of her enemy’s chest was far from the only thing Isadoriah did, finally taking a clean swipe at the paralyzed woman before her and lopping her in two from across her waist. Horror immediately overtook the man seeing his partner felled so soon, only being magnified along with his pain when he felt an arrow pierce through what he assumed was his heart. He didn’t need to turn around to know that Joshua had shot him in the back, ironically a cowardly move for such a shining knight.

“Never turn your back on the enemy,” Joshua chastised, “especially not on an armored assassin-soldier.” Down to his knees the tactician man fell, his last thoughts being about how he failed the Awakening trials despite his power. Perhaps he had underestimated his enemies too much…? “Fear not, for death shall not truly claim you here,” Joshua said, though his enemy wasn’t sure if he could correctly make out what he said. “This is but a warning of sorts for the future: you will face a great evil with far greater strength than that of ours. With this knowledge, you will train diligently to stand up to this threat. With that having been said, you have performed against us quite admirably compared to countless others, but we must maintain our strength for all the worlds so I apologize for this display. We shall meet again though, so look forward to it o’ chosen of the…”

* * *

_** Theme: Dive into the Heart ~ Destati  
** _

They had awakened in a sudden bolt, the last thing they remembered having haunted their minds. Their eyes frantically buzzed about in their sockets looking for their new friend. They were immensely relieved to see each other no worse for wear than before, but how could that be? They both were brutally murdered by their opponents and thus failed the Awakening trial, so how could they still be? At that moment the voice returned to them.

 _"_ _That was sorely underwhelming…"_ the voice groaned. _"Though I suppose that I should have expected the outcome given who I pitted you against. It seems that even in this dream state that they are immensely powerful…"_ The two tacticians had definitely wanted answers for this one-sided match-up and looked up to where their presumed guide would be. _"Those two beings —_ ** _Adam_** _and_ ** _Eve_** _—are powerful entities who are not of this world.” This confused the tacticians because from what they heard the two’s names were “Joshua” and “Isadoriah”, but they ultimately paid that detail no mind. “Where they hail from I do not know, but I do know that they are exceptionally strong if somewhat archaic. They share an unbreakable bond with each other and have been alive for countless amounts of time. I pitted apparitions of them against you to test your endurance against those who outclassed you, to see if you could overcome your present limits and triumph, but it seems that I picked the wrong opponents for that battle…"_ And right after the voice promised that it wasn't going to be an emotionally stressful bout. _"Despite your loss, you are both miraculously intact; how this is I do not know but it is still relieving nonetheless. Either way, I suppose that this will suffice enough for you to advance on to your Final Awakening…"_ They both jumped up in joy as this meant the end of their slumber; they could finally wake up and meet the real world since their first coming to consciousness. From the station they stood on a pathway of light stairs revealed themselves and lead up to another platform higher up. In their glee they raced up the steps to their final destination making it in record time, and turning around to view the way they came from immediately turned their glee into unease. The previous platform they were on could no longer be seen, neither could the stairs that they just climbed.

 _"_ _Whatever Awakening Station you were previously standing on disappears once you have completed that stage and have moved on to the next one,"_ the voice said. _"Now, there are no battles to partake in for completion for this Final Awakening. The only things left are my words to impart to you before you are truly awakened, so listen carefully…"_ While listening for the voice to speak up, the floor they stood on also had an image on it. They almost assumed it to be the first portrait from when they first awoke, but it had many twists in it that were different from the first. The scenario was about both of them, but their hair was noticeably messier and their clothes were torn up in several places, but that was the least notable feature they had; tattooed to the front of their faces was the six-eyed sigil from earlier, two extra pairs of eyes with all six eyes colored black and red like Akasha and Marth, two large horns protruding from their heads, a bony spine running along their backs, forearms and forelegs covered in coal-black scales, sharp talons replacing their nails, six fallen-angel wings sprouting from their backs, and a tail on the ends of each of them. They did not carry either of their swords or tomes, instead having a dark aura pulsating around them both whilst connected to each other. Behind them was another point of interest. The head of some great dragon appeared behind them, also bearing six red eyes, and from all of the sharp-teethed mouths spewed an ominous smoke of sorts. Two more people were spotted further behind bearing the same outfit and weapons as they previously did, and both bearing the same red eyes. Looking closer the dragon head matched that of the black dragon's from the former station, and upon closer inspection they had all of the distinct features of that dragon. A sickening feeling crept into the duo's collective stomachs; were they the death-bringing black dragon from before?

 _"_ _You both are creatures of the darkness,"_ the voice began, _"therefore you must take caution of how much light you receive. Too much will burn away the darkness that you are. This is two-fold in meaning: the physical light itself from the real world can be lethal in very high doses against your unprotected form, which is why you are covered in much clothing to shield your body from it, especially your enchanted coats. With those coats alone you can negate the harmful effects of light entirely and will have little want for much other articles of clothing, but do take caution to at least wear something else along with them."_ They understood that part well enough and made a note to not take off their coats outside during daylight hours if they could help it. _"The second meaning is to beware of those of the light, including Chrom for he too is a creature of light;"_ the voice began explaining again. _"The creatures of light can be warm and enticing like honey, but just as they are delicious they are also horrible poison if taken in excess, emotional poison. Darkness is generally feared and rejected in the real world while light is uplifted and worshipped. A creature of the dark must be careful with which creatures of the light they decide to mingle with. If you are not careful it can cause unbearable stress for either you or them, which may or may not end in unforgettable tragedy. I am not telling you to avoid the light altogether though; while the darkness and light are quite difficult to mix together, it is possible and they can create twilight, which bears the best of both worlds. Marth is such a creature, one who straddles the fine line between darkness and light. It may be easier to interact with the twilight more than the light for now…"_

This did not answer their question about whether they were that ominous dragon from before seeing as how they were being depicted with its features, but this made up for the lack of an answer for the moment.

 _"_ _Last but not least, I bear two last warnings for both the light_ _and_ _the darkness before I leave for some time…"_ Right on cue a warm pulsating light sprang to life right at the edge of the station; as the pair got closer to the light their guide spoke advice to them that almost went unheeded.

 _“ _The closer you get to the light, the greater your shadow becomes…”__ the guide said. Just as the pair were about to touch the light they retracted their hands and snapped around, witness their own shadows already gargantuan in size merge together into a singular piece. This giga-shadow's shape contorted into a phantom form of a malignant dragon, entirely black in body and beady ruby orbs stared back at them with predatory intent. As if it was their nightmares come to life it tore itself from the floor and towered above their puny forms, outstretching its six wings and cutting loose a triumphant roar of freedom. In response the station became flooded with shadowy cesspits, the Risen returning from these pits to feast on their foes. Instinctively the pair pulled out their weapons and made to do battle with these dark imitations of life. Among their figures they spotted an inky black silhouette of Marth among their numbers, surrounded by many other figures each brandishing their own unique appearances and weapons. None of them had made a single sound, not that they needed to for signaling their attack. The pair charged forth at them and did battle, but quickly learned that these enemies were stronger than they were, smarter than they were, and they were outnumbered with that point hammered into their heads as they could feel the deathly cold arms grasp and claw at them.

 _" _He who fights monsters should see to it that he himself does not become a monster…"__ the guide's voice rang out in their minds, referring to their vain struggle against the dark ensemble that trapped them. _"And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you…"_ They tried to scream out to something, someone, to save them from this predicament. They wondered as the darkness was swallowing them up into itself: had they failed to awaken themselves from this slumber? Oh how cold the darkness felt to them now, how they wished that the light would come and rescue them from themselves. They never did catch the name of their guide nor the Fell Dragon who threatened to entomb them. A lone voice echoed throughout their head, though whether it was their guide or someone else was uncertain.

 _" _I am the wings of despair…I am the breath of ruin…I am the Fell Dragon_ **Grima** _…"__ They prayed to whatever gods were available to deliver them out of this slumber. And it seemed as if their answers would be answered very soon. The light had not truly left them; it began moving on its own and sought out the entrapped duo. From it a voice called out to them.

"No, not you!" it said, desperate to save them. "Fight back!" it commanded. It sounded so familiar…was it…Chrom? Had he come to whisk them away from this sea of darkness? So he hadn't truly left them after all!

"Open your eyes!" his voice rang throughout the nothingness, "OPEN YOUR EYES!" With the last command the light itself expanded and covered everything in its radiant dawn, burning away the shadows. The mass shrieked and gnarled as it dissipated entirely. The two snownettes looked as if they were asleep, but their eyes opened and found the man's frame suspended in the air above them.

_** Theme: Id‒Serenity ** _

If he was supposed to be their guardian angel he certainly looked the part, with his arm held out for them to grab; they eagerly accepted it and he pulled them up. They floated up towards what appeared to be a sun, with the three of them smiling at each other as bright as the very light itself. "Welcome back," he said. "It's over now." This nightmarish experience was finally at its end, and the pair were overjoyed that they could finally meet the real world again after quite the few unpleasant trials they had to plow through. Faintly, they could hear their guide whisper their final words to them as they departed. _"Remember…"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And with this, the Premonition has finally concluded. Up next is the Prologue – "On the Verge of History". Of the character introductions I have not changed too much; this is where Chrom Lowell, Elizabeth Melissa Lowell (simply known as Liz or Lissa from person to person), and Frederick Berenstain will make their debut in the story, as well a half OC of sorts also appearing. One thing I wanted to ask of you readers is if you want for me to go on ahead and tell you what the main pairings will be in advance before I publish the next chapter (there are a few secret ships I won’t get into until they happen) or if you want me to surprise you when we get to that point. And with that, this is Motley World Studios signing off the air!


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